Only a year and 7 months since my last post

Not bad, I say. So is it at all possible to catch the world no one up on everything that's happened since the end of January 07? Probably not, but I figured since I decided to randomly read my friends' blogs... and then be stalker-ish and find Krista's... and because she promised to update if I do... WHY NOT POST? :D

So, I tend to have this problem where I over think things. A lot. Take, for example, my future: Well, I'm interning at a Fortune 500 company basically networking with people (the joys of being a second-level support guy), and I essentially have a guaranteed job lined up once I graduate (in December of this year). Good situation, right? Not exactly. First of all, I will be 21 for about 2 weeks before I receive my Bachelor's degree. Not saying age means much, but it means that for all intents and purposes, I'm still a freakin' kid! I don't know if I'm ready to grow up! Uncertainty is beyond scary, but I guess one can ever be absolutely certain about his/her future-- it's sort of how he/she deals with uncertainty (whether embracing it or fearing it) that determines who he/she is and who he/she will become. (Gotta love correct grammar :P).

Another example of over-thinking? Well, a little back story is needed I suppose: Rewind to late summer 07. Ryan and I were going to get a place in Panther Hall for our Junior years. We had a double picked out, got all the necessary paper work, etc. Well, turns out he didn't want to room with me at the last second, and called Panther Central the day before the deadline for getting out of a housing contract, and canceled it. So, I was roommate-less, and had a day to decide what to do. I guess, in a way, I had figured something like this would happen. I always saw the French Living/Learning Community in PA Hall as an option should something not work out. Well now, if I didn't want to be relegated to a Tower C single for the 3rd year in a row (and probably meet NO ONE again), I'd have to do it. Luckily P.C. obliged, and stuck me in PA Hall on the French floor.

I figured it'd be all intensely French, but nah... it wasn't in the slightest. Whatever. I told myself I was going to put myself out there-- make friends; get to know people; hopefully enjoy the last year I had in Pitt housing. My roommate was cool and was in a similar situation that I was in with a friend bailing on him last minute. We didn't really talk all that much (probably because he was rarely there), but we got along great.

I did, though, end up getting basically assimilated into the girls' suite down the hall. I ended up befriending Alicia (whom I had seen from Orchestra) and we ended up talking and hanging out. In the process of all this bonding, I got to know her roommates. Figured all was going well until the little cute one ran away from me the one day when I told her I knew Katie Angus after she expressed her desire to become her. Perplexed, and figuring I ended up making enemies with one of my new friend's roommates, I went back to my room and figured I'd kinda failed in my little endeavor.

Well, somehow a day or so later I ended up in the little cute one's room as we talked with Alicia and her actual roommate (the girl with whom she shared a bedroom) about visiting the gynecologist. I guess in my love for vivid images of doctors all up in female genitalia, I reached over and pulled the little cute one closer to me. I'm sure she was beyond weirded out, but whatever-- I wasn't there to judge. All I knew was she was cute and she was in my arms.

I guess for the next month or so, I pretty much exclusively lived in the aforementioned estrogen suite. I probably ended up watching more movies there than I'd ever watched before, and the little cute one and I always curled up on the couch together to do so. Not sure if either of were really certain of what to think, but hey, whatever, right?

One thing happened to lead to another as the little cute one and I grew closer and closer. Her birthday came and went, and I hope it was as memorable for her as it was for me. Somehow we ended up as a couple out of all of it, and I don't question how it happened, I just know that I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I love you, Krista.

Now how it relates to me and my irrational fear of the unknown? Well, I see her in my life. I see her in my future. I guess a better way to put this would be-- if she somehow weren't in my future, I'm not sure what I'd do with myself. And you can ask anyone about relationship futures, and they'll all tell you that they're full of uncertainty. So as far as that road goes, the only thing I can do is pray everything works out and pretty much live in the here and now, enjoying every moment I can.

I better wrap this up as I have work tomorrow. I obviously omitted quite a bit of what has happened in the past 19 months, but for those who know me, they probably would understand why. Though apart from all the utter crap I wouldn't wish on anyone that happened in that time-span, I did want to talk about the... I don't know... blessing that was bestowed upon me. She was exactly what I needed-- The direction I was searching for, so to speak. She's the sane counterpart to my fucked up head and I'm not sure what I'd do without her. I guess I'm pretty really freakin' happy, and writing it all down definitely made me realize it.

No idea when I'll update again, but until next time kiddos!

Procrastinating

Yes, stop the presses, wake the kids up-- I am posting a blog entry. Procrastination has definitely got the better of me this time. Did you ever realize that the stuff you do when you should be doing something else is always more-effort consuming than the actual task itself? I don't know how many times I've sat up and read about some damn historical tribe of New Zealand on Wikipedia, or decided to randomly calculate the distance the Earth would have to be from the Sun so the average surface temperature would be JUST enough to boil the oceans? (8.88x10^10 m, btw. By comparison, Venus is about 1.08x10^11m). Point is, yeah, I should probably be working on the half-page single-spaced french "écrite libre" I have to have for tomorrow, but meh. It's a lot more fun writing a blog post instead!

Anyway, yeah, it's been way too long since the last "hey what's Will been up to recently" post, so I don't really plan on tracking through, what, 5 months of random shit. But meh, we'll see where this goes.

Biggest thing I'm looking forward to currently is my 6 week study abroad in France. That is going to take place May 24th-July 7th, and I couldn't be more psyched about it I don't think. The application along with a bunch of other crap is due next Friday, and I still have quite a bit to do. Worst thing is the essay-- "What do you plan on accomplishing overseas? How do you think this will better yourself as a person?" Does anyone else hate those types of question as much as I do? It's like, who gives a flying fuck guys... honestly. Oh well, gotta do that at some point.

But I'm already planning ahead for what to do there. I'm leaving Pittsburgh on the 23rd probably... not sure if I have to fly out of Pittsburgh or fly to New York or what (they don't tell me these things), but I'm going to land in Paris that night hopefully. The experience officially starts on the 24th, so my guess is we'll all meet up somewhere then and go from there! We're spending Thursday-Saturday in Paris and then taking a train to Nantes on Sunday where I'm actually going to be for 6 weeks. Going to be taking 2 classes there... both of which will probably suck more ass than Mike Haley (oooooo burned... I just said that because you probably won't be reading it. :) ), but meh, those two classes are probably going to be the least of my concerns while there. I'm sure bars will be frequented nightly and hopefully there are other things to experience.

At some point, though, I'm taking my ass to Amsterdam. I don't care if I have to go by myself for Christ's sake, but there will be a side trip. :) Ryan said something about coming over, but he's flaky and he'll probably bail on me-- but no worries. I suppose I'll have to do that one of the weekends I'm there, which probably makes the most sense.

I'm staying with a host family which is probably the thing I'm looking forward to least. While I'm sure they'll welcome me with open arms, there's always that chance that they won't. Also, I don't fricking speak French. I can understand it almost fluently, but expressing ideas into words is my biggest fricking problem. I can't see myself holding large-scale conversations with them without throwing in an english word with an "é" at the end and them looking at me like wtf. It'll probably be like that for the first 2 weeks, but I'm hoping I'll grasp the language for at least the last 2/3rds of the trip.

That kinda makes me have mixed feelings about it. Although there's no reason why I should be anything but ecstatic to have this opportunity, I still always manage to make those tiny negative nuances so exhibited that it almost makes me not want to look forward to this. I gotta work on that. Big time.

Anyway, what else? Oh! Orchestra! Yep I bought a bassoon and joined the Pitt Orchestra. It is amazing, to say the least. The songs are ridiculous and it's been quite hard trying to pick it back up to the level I was at, but I think I'm getting at least a little bit better. I have been neglecting to practice, which I have to get back into the habit of doing if I want to survive through these concerts. We're doing Beethoven Feb 7th, and our main piece is Eroica -- 3rd symphony. It's close to an hour long, so I'm kinda buggin out about that one. It's a lot of (COMPLICATED) music to learn, and I rarely have the time or the energy to sit down for long periods of time by myself and crank out note-by-note the pieces. Guess I should find time and energy.

Work has been getting kinda busy too. Over Christmas I ran my first job and got about 30 hours over 3 days, which hurt-- quite a bit. But it was worth it. Time flew, and the paycheck was hella nice. Since it's slowed down considerably, but that would be because I do not have a mode of transportation the 5 days of the week they need me the most.

Eh, anyway I've gotten bored. I'll update later. (I'm lying here. I'm sure I won't, but hey, stranger things HAVE happened.)

Update: Woops, it's his 3rd symphony not his 5th.

Procrastinating

Yes, stop the presses, wake the kids up-- I am posting a blog entry. Procrastination has definitely got the better of me this time. Did you ever realize that the stuff you do when you should be doing something else is always more-effort consuming than the actual task itself? I don't know how many times I've sat up and read about some damn historical tribe of New Zealand on Wikipedia, or decided to randomly calculate the distance the Earth would have to be from the Sun so the average surface temperature would be JUST enough to boil the oceans? (8.88x10^10 m, btw. By comparison, Venus is about 1.08x10^11m). Point is, yeah, I should probably be working on the half-page single-spaced french "écrite libre" I have to have for tomorrow, but meh. It's a lot more fun writing a blog post instead!

Anyway, yeah, it's been way too long since the last "hey what's Will been up to recently" post, so I don't really plan on tracking through, what, 5 months of random shit. But meh, we'll see where this goes.

Biggest thing I'm looking forward to currently is my 6 week study abroad in France. That is going to take place May 24th-July 7th, and I couldn't be more psyched about it I don't think. The application along with a bunch of other crap is due next Friday, and I still have quite a bit to do. Worst thing is the essay-- "What do you plan on accomplishing overseas? How do you think this will better yourself as a person?" Does anyone else hate those types of question as much as I do? It's like, who gives a flying fuck guys... honestly. Oh well, gotta do that at some point.

But I'm already planning ahead for what to do there. I'm leaving Pittsburgh on the 23rd probably... not sure if I have to fly out of Pittsburgh or fly to New York or what (they don't tell me these things), but I'm going to land in Paris that night hopefully. The experience officially starts on the 24th, so my guess is we'll all meet up somewhere then and go from there! We're spending Thursday-Saturday in Paris and then taking a train to Nantes on Sunday where I'm actually going to be for 6 weeks. Going to be taking 2 classes there... both of which will probably suck more ass than Mike Haley (oooooo burned... I just said that because you probably won't be reading it. :) ), but meh, those two classes are probably going to be the least of my concerns while there. I'm sure bars will be frequented nightly and hopefully there are other things to experience.

At some point, though, I'm taking my ass to Amsterdam. I don't care if I have to go by myself for Christ's sake, but there will be a side trip. :) Ryan said something about coming over, but he's flaky and he'll probably bail on me-- but no worries. I suppose I'll have to do that one of the weekends I'm there, which probably makes the most sense.

I'm staying with a host family which is probably the thing I'm looking forward to least. While I'm sure they'll welcome me with open arms, there's always that chance that they won't. Also, I don't fricking speak French. I can understand it almost fluently, but expressing ideas into words is my biggest fricking problem. I can't see myself holding large-scale conversations with them without throwing in an english word with an "é" at the end and them looking at me like wtf. It'll probably be like that for the first 2 weeks, but I'm hoping I'll grasp the language for at least the last 2/3rds of the trip.

That kinda makes me have mixed feelings about it. Although there's no reason why I should be anything but ecstatic to have this opportunity, I still always manage to make those tiny negative nuances so exhibited that it almost makes me not want to look forward to this. I gotta work on that. Big time.

Anyway, what else? Oh! Orchestra! Yep I bought a bassoon and joined the Pitt Orchestra. It is amazing, to say the least. The songs are ridiculous and it's been quite hard trying to pick it back up to the level I was at, but I think I'm getting at least a little bit better. I have been neglecting to practice, which I have to get back into the habit of doing if I want to survive through these concerts. We're doing Beethoven Feb 7th, and our main piece is Eroica -- 5th symphony. It's close to an hour long, so I'm kinda buggin out about that one. It's a lot of (COMPLICATED) music to learn, and I rarely have the time or the energy to sit down for long periods of time by myself and crank out note-by-note the pieces. Guess I should find time and energy.

Work has been getting kinda busy too. Over Christmas I ran my first job and got about 30 hours over 3 days, which hurt-- quite a bit. But it was worth it. Time flew, and the paycheck was hella nice. Since it's slowed down considerably, but that would be because I do not have a mode of transportation the 5 days of the week they need me the most.

Eh, anyway I've gotten bored. I'll update later. (I'm lying here. I'm sure I won't, but hey, stranger things HAVE happened.)

Week 3 Picks

Haven't had too much time this week to write on last week, but I was 12-4 last week and my fantasy team won bringing me up to 1-1. Picks for this week:

Carolina (0-2-0) def. Tampa Bay (0-2-0)
Chicago (2-0-0) def. Minnesota (2-0-0)
Pittsburgh (1-1-0) def. Cincinatti (2-0-0)
Green Bay (0-2-0) def. Detroit (0-2-0)
Jacksonville (0-2-0) def. Indianapolis (2-0-0)
New York Jets (1-1-0) def. Buffalo (1-1-0)
Miami (0-2-0) def. Tennessee (0-2-0)
Washington (0-2-0) def. Houston (0-2-0)
Baltimore (2-0-0) def. Cleveland (0-2-0)
New York Giants (1-1-0) def. Seattle (2-0-0)
Philadelphia (1-1-0) def. San Francisco (1-1-0)
Arizona (1-1-0) def. St. Louis (1-1-0)
New England (2-0-0) def. Denver (1-1-0)

Monday 9/25
Atlanta (2-0-0) def. New Orleans (2-0-0)

Highlights this week:
- Carolina and Tampa Bay - Well at least one of them's getting a win this week eh?
- Jacksonville and Indianapolis - Should be one of the best football games you'll ever see.
- Giants and Seahawks - Again, something to define the Giants.

This is gonna shape up to be a very different year from last year it seems. You have teams that finished well below 500 have a 2-0-0 record to start the season and some teams that were super bowl contenders last year starting 0-2-0.

Week 2 Picks

This week should be significantly better I think. A lot of very one-sided match ups-- though, that could always lead to an upset, eh? So without further ado:

Sunday 9/17:
Miami (0-1-0) def. Buffalo (0-1-0)
Carolina (0-1-0) def. Minnesota (1-0-0)
Cincinatti (1-0-0) def. Cleveland (0-1-0)
Chicago (1-0-0) def. Detroit (0-1-0)
Indianapolis (1-0-0) def. Houston (0-1-0)
New Orleans (1-0-0) def. Green Bay (0-1-0)
New York Giants (0-1-0) def. Philadelphia (1-0-0)
Baltimore (1-0-0) def. Oakland (0-1-0)
Atlanta (1-0-0) def. Tampa Bay (0-1-0)
Seattle (1-0-0) def. Arizona (1-0-0)
St. Louis (1-0-0) def. San Francisco (0-1-0)
Denver (0-1-0) def. Kansas City (0-1-0)
New England (1-0-0) def. New York Jets (1-0-0)
San Diego (1-0-0) def. Tennessee (0-1-0)
Dallas (0-1-0) def. Washington (0-1-0)

Monday 9/18:
Pittsburgh (1-0-0) def. Jacksonville (1-0-0)

Some things to watch:
- Was TB's loss last week a fluke? I'm kinda hoping so as I believe they're playoff worthy. Do I think they have the power to defeat Atlanta? HELL yes. This game is a toss up and should be very fun to watch.
- This week will put the Cards to the test. If they can pull off the upset against Seattle which, judging by last week, shouldn't be too hard, we might see a new playoff contender rise out of the ashes in the NFC.
- First week of NFC East inter-division play! Oh man I can't wait-- all of these games are toss-ups I think and, hopefully after this week, we can have a more defined picture of who will be playoff worthy from that division.
- Do the Jets have what it takes to beat the Pats? Pennington surprised everyone when he came out of last week as the best passer in the league, but that was against a fairly crappy Tennessee team. Then again, Brady's clearly missing Givens and Branch. If he can't find a new strategy soon I think the Pats won't have a chance this year.
- How will Trent Green's injury impact the Chiefs? With Huard be able to step up and defeat a Denver team that rather suprised all of us last week?
- And finally, how is Big Ben going to be in his first regular season action since the motorcycle accident + appendectomy? If history tells anything, I don't think the Super Bowl champs have much to worry about... other than the fact that they're playing a Jacksonville team that has a hell of a lot of potential.

NFL Week 1 Results

Well this was one hell of a kickoff weekend, wasn't it? I already want to re-adjust my playoff predictions! But no, I'm keeping them up and seeing how off I really am at the end of the year. If I were to change them now, though, I'd definitely add a few things that I noticed after this weekend:

Jacksonville
Yes I didn't pick Jacksonville to appear in the AFC playoff picture. I'd probably revise that now as after watching them in the Cowboys game, they really showed a lot of talent. They're very well-rounded-- amazing defense, and just a good offense all around. Defense wins championships and I really think the Jags will excel in that category in 2006.

Miami
I'd be taking them off if I could. After watching Culpepper's performance on Thursday, there is no way that he can put up the hall of fame numbers he did in Minnesota. Why? Two words: Randy Moss. They'll have a good season, and could still make the playoffs, but I would take them out of the number 5 spot if I could.

Giants
DAMN did they play well! I was really impressed by Eli-- he's grown a lot and could finish off the season one of the top 5 quarterbacks of 06. I probably wouldn't change their position on my playoff list, but last night's game upheld my expectations for them this year.

Carolina and Atlanta
WTF? Here's a two-for: Is Vick back to being what he was in 04? Is Carolina not all they're hyped up to be? Granted, Smith's hurt and that sucks and all, but jeez-- it's the Falcons! C'mon I have you going to the Super Bowl! Don't disappoint me!

Seattle
Won against Detroit by THREE! Ahaha, Super Bowl loser + Madden curse anyone?

New England
DEION BRANCH IS NOW A SEAHAWK! Jesus... Brady now lost 2 of his premier receivers and BARELY squeaked out of Sunday with a win-- against the Bills. THE BILLS! Just thank your fatass lineman who fell on a scrambling QB in the end zone for saving you from the utter humiliation of losing to J.P. Losman.

The other stuff
- Chad Pennington had the best game of any QB this week. Take a moment to let that sink in.
- Your highest passer rating for this week? 126.5 -- Charlie Batch. He really stepped up, didn't he?
- Reggie Bush. Is anyone from the Texans going to admit they made the most retarded draft move since Ryan Leaf?
- Philip Rivers had a decent start, eh? Granted it was against Oakland...
- Tampa Bay... Come on!
- Hope Trent Green feels better!

Anyway, my fantasy team sucked this week. I have both McNabb and Warner and was wracking my brain over who to start all week! I finally chose to stick with McNabb, but it wouldn't have mattered either way, as they both had amazing games (22 points in my league). Larry Johnson really held up to my expectations (YEAH RIGHT). And damn Peyton shoulda thrown more to Marvin Harrison!

Yeah I lost this week 75-40. Which makes me 0-1-0 in my league. I'm also 10-6 in my picks. Let's see if I can get out of this season with a winning record. :)

Will's Uber 2006 Football Predictions! (Week 1 Picks)

Yeah I'm back and not dead! :D

The 2006 NFL Season starts tomorrow at 8:30, so I gotta get my football picks in. I'll see if I'm motivated enough to do this every week-- will give me something to blog about at least, eh? Since this is the first one I'll include my picks for the whole 2006 season, which will probably be way off, but eh I don't care.

Playoff Picture (x = 1st round bye, ** = 5th, * = 6th)
AFC North:
- Cincinatti
- Pittsburgh*
- Baltimore
- Cleveland

AFC East:
- New England
- Miami**
- Buffalo
- New York

AFC South:
- Indianapolis(x)
- Jacksonville
- Houston
- Tennessee

AFC West:
- Denver(x)
- San Diego
- Kansas City
- Oakland

Wild Card contenders: Miami**, Pittsburgh*, San Diego, Baltimore

NFC North:
- Chicago
- Minnesota
- Green Bay
- Detroit

NFC East (The toughest division, by far):
- Dallas
- New York*
- Washington
- Philadelphia

NFC South:
- Carolina(x)
- Tampa Bay**
- Atlanta
- New Orleans

NFC West:
- Seattle(x)
- Arizona
- St. Louis
- San Francisco

Wild Card contenders: Tampa Bay**, New York*, Washington, Philadelphia, Arizona, Atlanta

AFC:
Miami over Cincinatti
New England over Pittsburgh

Indianapolis over Miami
Denver over New England

Indianapolis over Denver

NFC:
New York over Chicago
Tampa Bay over Dallas

Seattle over Tampa Bay
Carolina over New York

Carolina over Seattle

Super Bowl
Indianapolis over Carolina


Week 1 Pics:
Thursday 9/07:
Pittsburgh (0-0-0) def. Miami (0-0-0)

Sunday 9/10:
Philadelphia (0-0-0) def. Houston (0-0-0)
Seattle (0-0-0) def. Detroit (0-0-0)
Cleveland (0-0-0) def. New Orleans (0-0-0)
Carolina (0-0-0) def. Atlanta (0-0-0)
New York Jets (0-0-0) def. Tennessee (0-0-0)
Tampa Bay (0-0-0) def. Baltimore (0-0-0)
Denver (0-0-0) def. St. Louis (0-0-0)
New England (0-0-0) def. Buffalo (0-0-0)
Cincinatti (0-0-0) def. Kansas City (0-0-0)
Dallas (0-0-0) def. Jacksonville (0-0-0)
Chicago (0-0-0) def. Green Bay (0-0-0)
Arizona (0-0-0) def. San Francisco (0-0-0)
Indianapolis (0-0-0) def. New York Giants (0-0-0)

Monday 9/11:
Washington (0-0-0) def. Minnesota (0-0-0)
San Diego (0-0-0) def. Oakland (0-0-0)

To all those from Riyadh: مرحبا!, أهِ وسهِ!

Just playing around in my blog logs (o_O) and found that I had two distinct, separate hits from people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Apparently one got referred by sexyrussianblondes.blogspot.com (thanks!). Yeeeah...

Well I guess it shows that more people are (maybe) reading my blog than I thought, so I suppose I should make more of an effort to update this. Although, I can't see too many people caring about my mundane life. Heh, oh well.

Last two weeks I've been working, but not very hard I guess. Last week I only worked at SportsWorks on Tuesday and it was busy as hell. I spent the rest of my time getting some server work done for MNX, which will amount to a pretty nice paycheck I'm assuming. This week I worked yesterday (Tuesday) and today. Yesterday was pretty bad, 1250 or so in groups, all came at the same time... yuck. You'll never fully realize the utter mental strain that a bunch of screaming kids puts on you until you work a full 8 hour shift with them. It could be one of the worst things-- but oh well, I can't really say I hate my job. It just gets so exhausting.

Today I worked but it wasn't so bad. I had to work 5 hours, still dealing with a butt load of groups, but it seemed like the day went by a lot faster, even though I was put on the monotonous exhibits. I don't know, maybe I successfully zoned out better, or maybe it was the fact I got more sleep-- not sure. Either way, I'm happy with it.

Anyway, looking down the road at the immediate future, there doesn't seem to be much difference from what I've been doing. Sad thing is, that until I get a set schedule from MNX (which may be never), I'm going to be playing each new week by ear, pretty much. Even worse is I have to play "on call" seemingly 24/7, which could very well mean I may have "nothing planned" on a day, but end up working 8 hours with my boss on a project. That's the only thing I really don't like about this so far is just the uncertainty factor. It was hard enough planning stuff like the trip up to see Em and praying that they didn't call me to do shit while I was up there and unable to do anything. But I don't know, I still believe the perks outweigh this simple drawback.

It's gotten to the point where I'd probably quit SportsWorks if they'd give me a set schedule at MNX. It's like, why am I sitting here working at SW, where there's no room for advancement, no room for anything DIFFERENT when I could be working at my own pace, with guys I can associate with, learning a hella lot more, making more than double what I make at SW, and having, literally, something new every step of the way? It's the ideal job! I don't know, but even if I were to get a set schedule and decent hours for MNX, I don't think I'd still quit SW. It's true what they say about that place-- it just stays with you no matter what. I've made enough bonds with everyone in that place that I'd probably miss them all dearly if I were to leave. And I guess only 2 have really surpassed the level of co-worker (well 3 now that Halapy's started), but even those I really don't get along with too well, I think we all share that common thread of having to put up with the same shit that is SW on a regular basis. And I believe that common thread is enough to justify a psuedo-relationship and a bond that'd be really hard to break.

Oh well, we'll all have to move on some day, but even with all these other, better opportunities quickly approaching, I don't think that day is yet for me. Anywho, nothing else really groundbreaking I guess. Found a FANTASTIC deal on a Montreal hotel... hopefully going to get that arranged soon.

So, until next time kiddos!